A friend of mine and I were taking off a summer quarter from AU in 1996. We were going to work at Mt Ranier National Park in the state of Washington. We left several days early in an effort to travel other parts of the country. We were at a gas station in Missoula, Montana and I was wearing an Auburn sweatshirt. As I was pumping the gas into my car, I notice a woman that appeared to be in upper 50’s running rapidly toward me. I look over at my friend and he has a weird look on his face as do I. The lady gets about 4 feet away from me and reaches out her arms as if she wants a hug. She continues moving toward me and wraps her arms around me. I am thinking to myself, should I know this person? After about 2 seconds, she loudly says ” War Eagle, I have been living here now for 20 years and you are the first person I’ve seen with an Auburn shirt on.” I am a bit astonished by this, and I kindly reply ” War Eagle to you” The smile on the lady’s face was priceless and I enjoy sharing the story whenever possible.
Michael